Sudanese president, AU chief mediator meet, discuss Darfur issue

Text of report in English by Sudanese news agency Suna website, BBC Monitoring Middle East.

Sept 2, 2005 (Khartoum) — President […] Umar al-Bashir, affirmed the commitment of the Sudanese government to cooperate with any body toward a final solution of the issue of Darfur in the coming session of Abuja negotiations, scheduled to be held on 15 September.

The president urged the African Union to take serious and strong steps to create an atmosphere convenient for the resumption of negotiations, as part of the commitment to the agreements signed by all parties, particularly the cease-fire agreement.

This came when the president received the African Union chief mediator to the Abuja Peace talks, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, at the guest house Friday evening. In this regard, the chairman of the government’s delegation to Abuja negotiations, Dr Majdhub al-Khalifah, said in a statement to Suna during the meeting that president Al-Bashir affirmed the support of the people of Sudan to the peace and stability, saying that this message must be conveyed to all.

He further added that the president hoped that the coming session of negotiations be successful, urging all the countries to participate in this session toward a final solution of the problem.

Dr Al-Khalifah described the visit of the African Union chief mediator as important and comes as part of the preparations for the coming session of Abuja negotiations.

Meanwhile, the envoy of the African Union explained that President Al-Bashir was very cooperative and affirmed the commitment of the Sudanese government to work with the African Union to make the next session of negotiation successful.

He also described his visit to Darfur as useful in which he got acquainted with the situation in Darfur, affirming that that nothing will hinder progress of the negotiations.